Keyhole-guard



No. 620,397.' Patented Feb. v2s, 1899. c.L. wmsHT.

KEYHOLE GUARD.

(Application filed Mar. 5, 1898.)

wl im (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. WRIGHT, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

KEYHOLE-GUARD.

SPCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,397, dated February 28, 1899.

vApplication filed March 5, 1898. Serial No.Y 672,694. (Nomodel.) i

tise-lock the mortise or cavity in the door is T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Keyhole-Guard, of which the following is a specification.

MyinVent-ion relates to keyhole-guards, and

has for its object to furnish a cheap, simple,

durable, and reliable device of this class which may be applied to any of the ordinary locks now in use by a carpenter without in any wise changing the construction of the l'ock.-

With this object in view myinvention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter Figure l is av perspective view illustratingl my invention applied to a mortise-lock, a portion of the wood of the door being cut away to show its application. Fig. 2 is an edge view, partly broken away, showing the keyholeguard in edge elevation. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the face of the door adjacent to the lock, the keyhole-guard being shown in its operative and inoperative positions in dotted lines. Fig. 4 is an edge viewof a portion of a door with a rim-lock secured thereto equipped with a keyholeguard constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the stem, turn-button or lever, and escutch eon plate or washer of my keyhole-guard detached. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of l the guard-plate and its hub detached.

mortise-lock, as shown in Figs. l and 2, or a rim-lock, as shown in Fig. 4.

In the adaptation of my invention to a morextended a slight distance below the bottom of the casing of the lock, as at B, such extended cavity reaching from the surface of the door on one side to slightly beyond the opposite side of the lock-casing. The mortise is also extended laterally, as at C, to form a side chamber, in which is inserted the guard-plate D. (Shown in detail in Fig. 6.) A This guardplate is substantially sector-shaped and is formed with a groove E, curved in the arc of a circle having the hub F as acenter, and the plate is connected with the hub bya stem G. The bottom of the extension B of the mortise is curved so that the hubF will restin it when the guard-plate D is in position in the side eX- tension C of the mortise.

The hub F ofthe guard-plate is provided with an angular opening F', in which the angular end H of the stem H is placed, the stem when engaged with the hub being in position in the lower extension B of the mortise, its

reduced end H2 projecting through a washer or escutcheon I, secured upon the outside of the door. The outer end of the reduced stem H2-is slotted, and in the slot is pivotally secured a lever or turn-button J, by means of which the stem and the guard-plate may be turned, the lever J being held in line with the'stem H when in use and .dropped vertically, as sho'wn in Fig. 4, when out of use.

The construction of my invention will be readily understood from l the foregoing description and may be described as follows: The parts being assembled'as described and the guard-plate being in its inoperative position, as shown by the dotted lines K in Fig. 3, the device can be operated to exclude the possibility of they insertionV of a false key or the unauthorized turning of the true key in the lock by nippers by grasping the lever or turn-button J and turning the stem H, throwing the guard-plate into the position shown in dotted lines at K in Fig. 3 and in full lines in Fig. l. In turning the guard-plate into this position, in which it covers the keyhole L, the curved groove E accommodates the projecting, end of the key and permits the guard to assume its locked position, which would be impossible if the guard-plate were not provided with the groove.

IOC#

2 eaoev The escutcheon or washer I is provided with a notch M in its perimeter in a position to receive the inner side of the lever J when the guard-plate is in its unlocked or inoperative position, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3.

To apply my invention to a ri m-lock, a chamber, as at C', is formed in the face of the door behind the lock of about the dimensions and shape of the side extension C of the mortise, as in Fig. 2. The guard-plate is located in this cavity or chamber C', its h ub F resting below the lock, the stem H3 being shorter than the stem I-I, while the washer or escutcheon I and lever or turn-button J are of the same construction as those used in mortiselocks. The practical operation is identical in both applications of the device.

From the foregoing description of the construction and operation of my invention it will be readily apparent that I have provided an extremely simple, cheap, and durable device easily applied aud operated and effective and reliable in operation. To apply it, no change whatever is necessary in the lock and any person with a chisel and gimlet can readily make the necessary extensions of the mortise for the mortise-lock or in the face of the door, as required with the rim-lock, and apply the device by securing the escutcheon I by means of screws I2. The Whole device is hidden from view, except the washer and the lever or turn-button, and this may be made as ornamental as desired or of any choice of metal.

lVhile I have illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out my invention, I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the exact details of construction shown and described, but hold that any slight changes or variations as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination with a lock provided with the usual keyhole, and the door to which the lock is secured provided with a recess adjacent to one side of the casing of the lock, of

a guard-plate mounted in said recess or chamber in position to clear or cover the keyhole as may be desired and having a hub at one end, a stem having an angular end fitting an angular bore in the hub of the guard-plate, said stem being seated in the lower portion of the chamber in the wood, a washer or escutcheon mounted upon the reduced outer end of said stem and secured to the face of the door, and a turning lever or button securedto the end of the reduced stem, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a lock, of the door to which it is secured provided with a side and bottom recess, a guard-plate mounted in the side recess having a hub at its lower end seated in the bottom recess and provided with an angular bore, an escutcheon secured upon the face of the door and having a radial notch in its periphery, a stem seated in the lower portion of the recess in the door, having an angular end to fit the bore of the hub of the guard-plate anda reduced endprojecting through the escutcheon-plate, said reduced end being slotted, anda lever or turn-button pivotally secured in said slot and adapted to fall by gravity into engagement with the notch of the escutcheon when the guard-plate isin its inoperative position, substantially as described.

4 3. The combination with the lock and thel door having suitable recesses at the side of and below the lock, of the sector shaped guard-plate having a hub and a straight arm connecting the hub and plate and provided with a curved groove drawn on the arc of a circle with the hub as a center, a stem engaging in the hub to turn the guard-plate and open or close the keyhole, the escutcheon secured to the door and provided with a radial groove in its periphery located in a vertical line below the center, and a pivoted turnbutton or lever arranged to fall by gravity and engage in said slot when the guard-plate is in its vertical position, substantially as described.

CHARLES L. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

ROY J. ENTRIKIN, JULIA A. ENTRIKIN. 

